It is well known in the abrasive cutting arts related to such materials as concrete, stone, ceramic, glass, composite materials and the like to utilize cores, such as disks for circular saws and disk grinders, cylinders for core drills, bands for band saws and belt grinders, articulating links for a saw chain, solid rectangular metal strips for reciprocating saws, flexible cable for wire-type saws; and to randomly affix a plurality of diamonds or other hard abrasive particles directly to specific areas of the cores, or affix a plurality of cutting members to specific areas of the cores.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to cutting tools, and is more particularly concerned with cutting tools that utilize abrasive particles to effect the cutting action.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art cutting members typically comprise a matrix material having a plurality of diamonds or other hard abrasive particles randomly or selectively embedded therein. It is also known to make kerf cutting portions of a core, or the cutting members affixed to the kerf cutting portions of a core wider than the body of the core so the body of the core will not bind within the kerf as the cutting progresses. It is further known that cutting efficiency is improved substantially if cutting debris can be rapidly removed from the work material as cutting progresses. Prior art abrasive coated cores or prior art cutting members, however, tend to wear rapidly and in such fashion that the width of the cutting portion of the tool, or the cutting members affixed to the cutting portion of the tool are reduced as the cutting progresses, preventing rapid removal of cutting debris and allowing the core body to interfere with the sides of the kerf. Both conditions lead to reduced cutting efficiency and rapid failure of the cutting tool while expensive diamonds or other abrasive particles remain unused.
Prior art efforts at resolving problems associated with cutting members have included variations in the wear characteristics of the matrix material used to consolidate the cutting members and using a greater number of hard particles embedded in the sides of the cutting member than in the middle so that the sides will wear longer to maintain the desired kerf width. Also, various shapes and profiles of cutting members within their structural limits have been devised in an effort to facilitate rapid removal of cutting debris or improve the wear pattern.
Efforts to further improve cutting characteristics of abrasive cutting tools based upon prior art technology have been limited by lack of an inherent structural integrity of the cutting members thereby preventing the use of efficiency enhanced configurations of the cutting members; the lack of debris clearance immediately surrounding each abrasive particle until the matrix material has been worn away thereby leaving the cutting members vulnerable to abrasive particle loss while substantial cutting value remains; non uniform distribution of hard particles throughout the matrix material or on the surface of the core material thereby causing loss of cutting value by over concentration of hard particles in a small area, or by premature loss of hard particles as their mutual support is eroded. As a result, the above mentioned efforts of the prior art technology to improve the cutting characteristics of abrasive cutting tools have been limited.